Caminiti vaults to top of Braves' Top 30 Prospects

August 14th, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO -- makes his debut on the Braves’ Top 30 prospects list at the top.

Caminiti highlights the group of players taken in July’s MLB Draft who are already ranked among the Braves’ top prospects. The 17-year-old hurler was taken in the first round with the 24th overall selection. He unseats AJ Smith-Shawver as the team’s top prospect.

The Braves are still blessed with an abundance of young talent at the MLB level. But with this midseason update, they no longer have any players listed among MLB’s Top 100 prospects.

Team Top 30 Prospects lists:
ALE: BAL | BOS | NYY | TB | TOR
ALC: CLE | CWS | DET | KC | MIN
ALW: HOU | LAA | OAK | SEA | TEX
NLE: ATL | MIA | NYM | PHI | WSH
NLC: CHC | CIN | MIL | PIT | STL
NLW: AZ | COL | LAD | SD | SF

Here’s a look at the Braves’ top prospects:

  1. Cam Caminiti, LHP
  2. AJ Smith-Shawver, RHP
  3. Hurston Waldrep, RHP
  4. Nacho Alvarez Jr., SS
  5. Drake Baldwin, C

Biggest jump/fall

Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the preseason list:

Jump: Drake Baldwin, C (Preseason: No. 12 | Midseason: No. 5)
Baldwin’s stock has significantly risen as he has impressed at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels this year. The 23-year-old catcher homered during last month’s Futures Game.

Fall: Darius Vines, RHP (Preseason: 14 | Midseason: Unranked)
Vines posted an 8.56 ERA in four appearances for Atlanta and a 5.14 ERA in 14 starts for Triple-A Gwinnett before being designated for assignment at the end of July. He was later outrighted to Double-A Mississippi.

New to the list

Here are the players added to the Top 30 from outside the organization:

No 1, Cam Caminiti, RHP (Draft, 1st round)
No. 12, Carter Holton, LHP (Draft, 2nd round)
No. 22, Nick Montgomery, C (Draft, 5th round)
No. 23, Luke Sinnard, RHP (Draft, 3rd round)
No. 24, Ethan Bagwell, RHP (Draft, 6th round
No. 29, Herick Hernandez, LHP (Draft, 4th round)

More from MLB Pipeline:
Top 100 prospects | Stats | Video | Podcast | Complete coverage

Best tools

Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.

Hit: 55 -- Nacho Alvarez Jr. (Jose Perdomo, Luis Guanipa)
Power: 55 -- Nick Montgomery (David McCabe)
Run: 65 -- Guanipa
Arm: 60 -- McCabe
Defense: 55 -- Alvarez Jr.
Fastball: 65 -- AJ Smith-Shawver (Hurston Waldrep, Jhancarlos Lara)
Curveball: 55 -- Luke Sinnard (Cade Kuehler)
Slider: 60 -- Kuehler (JR Ritchie, Carter Holton, Adam Maie)
Changeup: 55 -- Cam Caminiti (Maier, Blake Burkhalter)
Splitter: 65 -- Waldrep
Control: 55 -- Sinnard (Owen Murphy, Burkhalter, Lucas Braun, Dylan Dodd)